Heater for automobile water-cooling systems



E. A.'TURNER HEATER FOR AUTOMOBILE WATER COOLING SYSTEMS Aug- 2,

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Dec. 30, 1916 Aug. 2, 1927.

E. A. TURNER HEATER FOR AUTOMOBILE WATER COOLING SYSTEMS Original FiledDec. 30,v 1916 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ill/T0715; F 7

Patented Aug. 2, 1927.

PATENT OFFICE,

EDGAR AMES TURNER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

HEATER FOR AUTOMOBILE WATER-COOLING SYSTEMS.

Application filed December 30, 1918, Serial No. 138,880. Renewed October31, 1918. Serial Io. 884,888.

This invention relates in general to improvements in warming means forwater cooling systems, and is particularly useful in connection withinternal combustion engines having water cooling systems. Trouble fre-vquently arises when automobiles having water-cooled engines are allowedto stan in unheated garages or at the curb in very cold weather owing tothe gradual cooling of the water in the radiator or water jacket, andthe subsequent freezing thereof. To meet this trouble I have designed aheater which can be brought into operation as soon as or before theengine is stopped for the purpose of keeping the water in the waterjacket and radiator warm until it is desired to start the engine again.This system has also the advantage that it not only prevents thefreezing of the water in the radiator, but alm prevents the enginegetting cold, and therefore hard to start owing to difficulty invaporizing the gasoline and maintaining it in the vaporized state. Inthis respect my present system has marked advantages over the use ofalcohol, glycerine or salts in order to prevent the water freezing,apart from the difiiculties and disadvantages consequent from puttingsuch materials into the cooling system.

I I The principal objects of my present invention are to provideimproved means for preventing the water in a cooling system fromfreezing; to provide means for maintaining an internal combustion engineat such 35 a temperature that ready starting thereof will befacilitated; to provide means whereby the normal thermal flow of waterfrom the water jacket to the radiator and back is maintained after theengine has stopped running; to provide means for injecting steam, orother heated fluid, into the water jacket of the engine or the radiatoror both; to provide improved means for keeping the engine warm .by meansof the liquid fuel under which the engine operates; to provide improvedmeans for adjusting the amount of heat supplied to the cooling system ofthe engine according to the temperature of the atmosphere; to provideimproved means for starting such heating means; to provide means formaintaining the engine water jacket at a higher temperature than theradiator after the engine has stopped running; to provide means forcirculating water through the water jacket without passing it throughthe radiator; to provide means for maintaining the engine water jacketat substantially constant temperature after the engine has stoppedrunning; to provide means for maintaining the engine water jacket atconstant temperature by varying the flow of water through the radiator;to provide improved means for preventing cold air passing through theradiator; to provide means auxiliary to the engine for passing heatedgases through the upper part of the radiator while preventing cold airpassing through the lower art of the radiator; and to provide means orprogressively closing the lower part of the radi- 1o ator.

In attaining these and other objects and advantages to be hereinafterset forth, I have provided a construction two embodiments of which areillustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein I Figure 1 is a sideelevation of an autoy mobile engine with its radiator, water pump andother parts of the water cooling system, together with a heating devicetherefor, all arranged and constructed in accordance with a preferredembodiment of my invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical section through the heating device;

Figure 3 is a view on the Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a plan view of the burner shown in section in Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a side elevation of a modified form of heater applied to anautomobile engine with its associated parts;

Figure 6 is a verticalsection through the heating device of Figure 5;and,

' Figure 7 is a view on the line 7--7 of Figure 5.

In the drawings is illustrated an automobile engine of common type havin.a water jacket 6, connected to the radiator y means line 3--3 of of theusual flexible coupling 8 through which the cooling water, heated by thecylinder walls, flows into the radiator to be cooled. Cooled water from,the radiator flows by the pipe 9, flexible coupling 10, and pipe 11 tothe rotary pump 12, and from thence by a pipe 13 and branch pipes 14into the lower part of the water jacket of the engine.

In the form of construction shown in Figures 1 to 4 water is taken fromthe rear side of the pump by means of pipe 15 into the heating device16, the details of whose construction are shown more particularly inFigure 2.

Referring now to Figure 2, it will be seen that the water enters theheating device-by means of the pipe 15, passes through a coil '46 inWhich it is usually heated sufliciently to be converted into steam whichpasses out by the pipe 17 This pipe 17 is connected by a T-joint18 to agoose-neck pipe 19 and to. another pipe 20 both leading to a three wayvalve 50. This three way valve is also connected to the lower part ofthe water jacket by the pipe 51 and to the lower part of the radiator bythe pipe 52.

This three way valve is constructed so that when the pipe 20 is closedfluid can flow through the goose neck into the pipes 51 and 52 but whenthe pipe 20 is open fluid can only flow through the pipe 51 and notthrough the pipe 52.

The purpose of this arrangement is to adapt the system to both steam andhot water heating. For steam heating it is desirable to supply steam notonly to the lower part v of the water jacket but also to the lower partof the radiator. I have found by experience that supplying steam to thelower part of the water jacket only, does not in all cases assatisfactorily warm the water in the radiator as well as admitting steamto the lower part of the radiator in addition to the water jacket. Forwater heating it is found that under certain circumstances satisfactorycirculation cannot be obtained if the heated water is admitted to thelower part of the radiator as well as the water jacket. Further whensteam is used it is desirable provide a goose-neck to prevent waterflowing from the water jacket or the radiator into the heater in thereverse direction to that required. On the other hand when hot waterheating is used the gooseneck must be vshort-circuited by the pipe 20 asthewater cannot flow round the gooseneck. These factors are all takencare of by the three-way valve constructed as described and theconnections thereto.

It has been found by experience that more eflicient heating can beobtained by means of 'steam than by hot water so that I preferably use aheater designed to give steam under normal conditions of operation.

Around the coil 46 arranged a casing 21 having a suitable heatingelement which may conveniently be a gasoline burner 22 arranged at thelower part of the casing which has orifices 25 around its upper end andsuitable apertures 26 around its lower portion for admitting air for thecombustion ofthegasoline. These openings may to advantage be coveredwith gauze similar to that employed in miners safety lamps in order toprevent the flame in, the heater setting fire to any external gasolinevapor and thence to the car.

Gasoline is led to the burner 22 by means of a pipe 27 from which itflows past the needle. valve 28 into the arcuate passage 29 formed inthe upper part 30 of the burner. comes heated by the flame and therebyacts as a vaporizer for the gasoline flowing through the passage 29.From the passage 29 the gasoline vapor passes through the tube'53 to thejet 34 into the Bunsen burner tube 35 arranged immediately above thejet. The mixture of air and gasoline vapor passes out through theapertures in the part 36 and burns with an acorn shaped flame within andaround the coil 46.

An indicator 37 is provided on the spindle dicator 37 is opposite thezero mark. If the temperature is still cooler, say 10 below zero, theneedle valve-will be opened still further in order to bring theindicator 37 opposite the 10 below zero mark. This scale will becalibrated as the result of tests to find out how far the needle valvemust be opened in order to give sufficient gasoline to maintain thewater in the cooling system at 55 or60 degrees with the temperature ofthe external atmosphere in the temperature in question.

Inorder to facilitate the lighting of the heater I have provided aresistance coil 54 around the pipe 53 to vaporize the gasoline prior tolighting the burner. This resistance is connected to thestorage battery55 of the car by lead 56. The other terminal of the battery is groundedat 57 to the car frame. The circuit is completed by grounding theopposite end of the resistance coil by means of a spring held switch orcircuit closer adapted to contact with the upper part 59 of the burnerwhich is of course electrically connected to the frame. The spring 60 ofthis switch normally holds the point 61 out of contact with the part 59.On pressing the button 62 the circuit is closed through the resistanceand on releasing the pressure the spring causes the-contact be- Thisupper part 30 of the burner be-- tween the parts 61 and 59 to be brokenwhich creates a spark and thereby lights the burner.

One advantage of arranging the heater at the lower rear corner of theengine is that the products of combustion pass along the side of andaround the engine and finally out into the atmosphere through theradiator and thereby aid in keeping the parts warm. In this way the heatof the products of combustion will warm the external parts of the en inesuch as the carburetor 95. gasoline an oil pipes and connections whichshould be kept warm it -the engine is to start readily. Also byarranging the heater under the hood the radiated heat is utilized andalso the heat confining and cold excluding effect of the hood is takenadvantage of for keeping the parts warm.

If desired the heater may be arranged on the running board behind thedash board for purposes of greater accessibility unless it isobjectionable for reasons of appearance or lack of space.

Figures 5 to 7 show a modified form of construction in which the heateris arranged adjacent the forward end of the engine instead of adjacentthe lower, rear end as in Figures 1 to- 4. In this modified form theheater 65 is supported by means of a double bracket or yoke 66 attachedby bolts 67 to the upper surface of the cylinder block 6. The lower end85 of the bracket 66 is arranged to pass under the heater, and isattached thereto by means of bolts 68.

Water is supplied to the heater by the pipe 69 which is connected to thefront side of the water circulating pump 12. Steam or hot water ispassed by the pipe 71 to a three way valve which is constructed andadapted to operate in the same manner as the valve 50 in the form ofconstruction shown in Figures 1 to 4.

The heater shown more particularlyin Figure 6, comprises a boiler 73,having a central flue 7 4 for the flame from the burner below. Withinthe boiler an annular float 75 which may be a hollpw metal shell asshown, or made of cork,'or other buoyant material. This float isarranged to operate a valve 76 by means of a rod 77, the valve 76 beingarranged so that it closes when the float moves upwardly, to the endthat a constant lever of water be maintained in the boiler. Steam isgenerated in the boiler and passes through a pipe 71 to the watercooling system.

The heater may also be used to supply hot water instead of steam inwhich case it isnecessary to prevent the valve 76 being closed by thefloat 75. For this purpose a rod 100 is provided having close fittingthreaded engagement with a boss 101 on the top of the boiler. I his rodmay be rotated by a hand-wheel 102 so as to bring its lower end intoengagement with the upper end of the valve spindle 77 and so prevent thefloat lillting the latter and thereby closing the va ve.

The construction of the burner and the means for initially vaporizingthe gasoline, and for igniting the flame are the same as in the form ofconstruction shown in Figures 1 to 4 and need not, therefore, bedescribed again.

Gasoline for the burner is fed from'a tank (which may be the vacuum tankfor supplying gasoline to the carbureter of the engine) inounted on thedash board 83, by the pipe 86. A needle valve 87 is placed in serieswith this pipe and provided with an operating hand-wheel 88 the spindleof which valve project-s through the dash board. An indicator 89 ismounted on the spindle 90 for the same purpose as the indicator 37 ofFigure 2.

A further feature shown in both forms of construction is the provisionof a byass 78 which short-circuits the radiator, al owing heated waterfrom the engine to paw through the pipe 7 8, (instead of through theradiator 7) into the pi e 11 leading to the c'rculating pump-12. ne of,the purposes of this by-pass is to reduce the amount of heat which isdissipated by the radiator 7 under certain circumstances. For example,

it is usually advisable to keep the temperature of the engine in excessof the temperature of the radiator, for the reason that it is desirablethat the temperature of the engine be not less thanfifty degrees F. inorder to obtain easyconditions for starting the engine, while on theother hand, there is no special need to keep the radiator warmer thannecessary to just prevent freezing. In order to control the flow ofwater through the by-pass, I have rovided a thermostatic device 79between tlie water jacket of the engine, radiator and the by-pass forthe purpose of partially deflecting the flow of water from the radiatorto the bypass whenever the temperature of the water falls below apredetermined temperature, thereby conserving the heat of the water andconsequently maintaining the temperature of the water in the waterjacket of the engine substantially constant. A certain amount of flowthrough the radiator is usually desirable to prevent freezing. On theother hand when the engine is running the thermostatic device shouldnearly if not entirely close the lay-pass to get the fuel cooling efiectof the radiator.

A further feature of both forms of construction is the use of a windshield for the front of the radiator which in the form of constructionshown comprises an inverted roller I blind 80 adapted to be drawn upagainst the action of a spring (not shown) inside the roller by means ofa cord 81 passing over a pulley 91. This cord may be fixed in anydesired position b means of a cleat 82 on the dashboard 83 o the car. Bythis means the position of the upper edge 84 of the screen or blind maybe moved into an position from the lower edge of the ra iator up to thetop of the radiator. Preferably the vertical edgesof the screen move ingrooves in the side of the radiator so that the screen lies within theframing of the radiator as shown in Figure 5.

The screen is so arranged that it moves from the bottom upwardly insteadof from the to downwardly .for two main reasons, first; t e upper partof the radiator receiving water from the engine water jacket is thewarmest partof the radiator and therefore can best be subjected to thegreatest cooling action, and secondly, in order to obtain the reatestheating efi'ect from the heater it is desirable that the products ofcombustion from the heater should pass through the radiator withoutallowing cold air to pass through the lower part thereof. With thescreen in the position shown in Figures 1 and 5 the radiator will act asa chimney for the products of combustion of the heater while the screenprevents cold air entering the lower part of the radiator.

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use, what I claimas new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a construction of the character described, in combination, a watercooling system, and means exterior of the system for supplying steam tothe water in the system. i 2. In combination, a water cooling system,and means exterior thereof for supplying steam tothe water in thelowerpart of the system.

3. In a water cooling system,the combination of a water jacket, aradiator, and means for converting a part of the water into steam towarm the remainder of the water. I

4. In a water cooling system, the combination of a water jacket, aradiator, and means for supp-lying steam to the water in the lower partof the water jacket.

5. In a water cooling system, the combination of a radiator, and meansfor supplying steam to the water in the lower part of the radiator. J

6. In a water cooling system, the combination of a Water jacket, aradiator and means for supplying steam to the lower part of the waterjacket, and also to the lower part of the radiator.

7. In a construction of the character described, in combination, a watercooling system, and means for supplying either steam or a heated liquidto the water in said sys tem.

8. In a water cooling system, the combination of a generator of heatedfluid and a siphon connection between said heated fluid generator andsaid water cooling system for delivering such fluid to the coolingsystem.

9. In a water cooling system, the combination of a water jacket, aradiator, a steam generator and a siphon connection between said steamgenerator and the lower part of said water jacket.

10. In a water cooling system, the combination of a water jacket, aradiator, a steam generator and a siphon connection between said steamgenerator and the said water jacket.

11. In a water cooling system, the combination of a Water jacket, aradiator, auxiliary means for heating the water after the normal supplyof heat has stopped, a siphon connection between said means and saidwater jacket and a by-pass for said siphon.

12. In a water cooling system, the combination of a water jacket, aradiator, a steam generator, a siphon connection between said steamgenerator and the lower part of said water jacket, and a connectionbetween the water jacket side of the siphon and the lower part of theradiator.

'13. In a water cooling system, the combination of a water jacket, aradiator,-auxiliary means for heating, the water after the normal supplyof heat has stopped, a siphon connection between said means and said.water jacket and a by-pass for said siphon,

and means for closing said siphon and by pass alternatively.

14. In a water cooling system, the combination of a Water jacket, aradiator, a

steam generator, a siphon connection between said steam generator andthe lower part of said water jacket, and a connection between the waterjacket side of the siphon and the lower part of the radiator, a bypassfor said siphon, and means for closing said siphon and radiatorconnection on the one hand and said by-pass on the other handalternatively.

15. In a water cooling system, an auxiliary heating system incommunication with the water in the cooling system and having a fluiddelivery part at a higher level than the water in the water coolingsystem proper.

16. In a water cooling system, an auxiliary heating system including asteam generator having a delivering part at a higher level than thewater in the water cooling ing means adapted to continue the thermalflow of water through said cooling system after the normal su ply ofheat has ceased, and means for cireu ating water through the waterjacket without passing through the radiator.

19. In a water cooling system the combination of a water jacket, aradiator, means for supplyin steam to the water in said system, and a ypass for circulating heated 10 water through the water jacket withoutpassing through the radiator. I a

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name. i

' EDGAR AMES TURNER.

